Overflowing Excitement at the Pinoy Christmas Bazaar

Overflowing Excitement at the Pinoy Christmas Bazaar

What’s the best way to celebrate an anniversary? Host a Pinoy Christmas Bazaar of course! Haydee Madz and Jan Velena decided to spend their first anniversary among friends, and a few hundred strangers for a Pinoy Christmas Bazaar reminiscent of similar community bazaars and markets back in the Philippines.

The long line up of people waiting to get into the Pinoy Christmas Bazaar exceed the capacity of North Centennial Recreation and Leisure Facility. Inside the small community hall, various food vendors served up traditional Christmas treats and Filipino food for sampling and take-away. There were bag sellers, cake makers, sign makers, network marketers and several financial services companies represented at the bazaar.

The rush of attendees at the beginning of the bazaar was overwhelming. Most of the food vendors ran out of food in the first hour and left many walking away from the event empty handed, and cravings for Christmas goodies.

Admission the enter the Pinoy Christmas Bazaar was $2 and money raised from tickets have been earmarked for donations to a local charity organization, ANCOP – Answering the Cry of the Poor. A donation update will be posted on the 204 Filipino Marketplace Facebook group.

Haydee and Jan work full time jobs in the healthcare industry and have aspiring entrepreneurial interests. Based on all the feedback and a lot of ideas on improving the next bazaar, there’s a lot of unfinished business from their first Pinoy Christmas Bazaar. Expect to hear more from the couple in the new year as they hope to continue to connect buyers, sellers and expand networks in the Filipino community. Happy Anniversary to you both!

Photos by Ron Cantiveros | Filipino Journal